We are sure that you will know by now that all horses should either possess a passport or that you should have applied for it.

The introduction of compulsory horse passports in the UK is to bring us in line with EU legislation which treats the horse as a potential food animal. As a practice we see little virtue in these passports as a means for stopping the passage of drugs into the human food chain. The system will be too easy to circumvent by reapplying for a new passport (illegally) from any one of the many passport issuing authorities. It is as if human passports can now be issued by every single supermarket chain with no ID! The system has little chance of controlling fraud. We feel particularly disappointed that the opportunity was not taken to make the passports more useful than this one aspect of legislation (after all we pride ourselves on not eating horses in this corner of the EU!). Whilst we see little virtue in the scheme we cannot now do anything other than encourage you to comply with it.

We frequently see situations where a horse has a passport with an age which seems inappropriate. It is important to realise that the age on a passport can only be relied on where the identification was carried out, and the passport issued, when the horse was still a young foal.

When you receive your new passport, you will notice there is a new section for you to sign declaring whether or not your horse is ultimately intended for human consumption. This must be signed before the horse can be exported, sent for slaughter or administered certain medicines. Once a horse has been declared as “not for human consumption”, a subsequent owner cannot ever change this. A declaration that a horse “is intended for human consumption ” can be reversed.

Some medicines we regularly use, for example bute, now cannot be given AT ALL to a horse that does not have a passport with this section signed. There will not be any way to circumvent this and all horses that require medical treatment should have passports signed with a declaration that they are “not intended” for human consumption.

Horses are identified on the passports by silhouettes which must be verified and signed by your vet or a recognised representative. Owners may now complete this section themselves only if the horse has been microchipped. Some passport issuing offices will transfer a silhouette to the passport from an existing vaccination certificate or formal documentation.

If you already have an older passport for your horse, you may be able to get it updated so that it contains the new section concerning human consumption. You will need to contact the organisation that issued the passport originally, but it may save you making a new passport application.

Note that if you intend to show a horse or pony you may have to have the passport for that breed society to be able to enter their shows. Despite our reservations with the passport scheme we will do our utmost to help clients comply. In order to do this and achieve maximum benefit for your horse we have a special deal which will provide you with both a microchip and a completed passport for one reduced fee. This costs £33+VAT is being done virtually at cost to help you comply with the legislation. It will also provide you with a fraud-proof and permanent identifier which is more valuable than satisfying EU legislation. Microchips are the only way of permanently identifying a horse, thereby helping to prevent theft and identity fraud. We believe strongly that they should have been part of this legislation.

To view the list of all the organisations and associations that can issue passports click here

 

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